The Sedalia weekly bazoo. [volume] (Sedalia, Mo.) 187?-1904, 1887-08-30
PERJURED THEMSELVES.
How the TrainwI eckerS Alibi
Was Secured-Whitney's
Confession.

/
park wreck, during the strike on the could
system, has made a confession and swears
| that the abb of the defense in the trial of
the Wyandotte train wreckers was perjured
testimony. The text of the confession Is
given herewith:
At o1lock yesterday afternoon Charles
Babbitt, an ex-engineer of the Missouri Pa
cifc road, was arrested on a warrant issued
by Judge Worthen on infoI nation sworn to
by Frank Tut, charging him with being
implicated in the wreckIng OF Missouri
Pani6c freight train at Elm park, near
Independence, April Is, 1856.
| Tomorrow, information will be filed at
Paola, Kan, against II ON as Feeney, Jack
Leary and a man named Mcnamara,
charging them with perjury in the trials
of the trainwreckers of Paola. Warrants
will be issued and the three men placed
under arrest as soon as they can be appre-
| hended.
The arrest yesterday and the three ar
rests to be made Tomorrow are all the out
growth of the famous trainwreckers' cases.
The men charged with perjury, Mcnamara,
Feeney, Leary, were the mainstay of the
defense In the trials of Hamilton at Wyan-
dotte and Lloyd at Paola. Il was by their
aid and by their testimony that an albi
was proved, which was all that saved the
necks uf the defendants. Since the trials
at Paola facts had come to light, which go
to show that these men deliberately went
into a scheme to clear their fellow knights
of labor at the risk of their own safety,
and if the sworn confessions of reputable
witnesses are worth anything they will all
suffer the penalty for the perjury.
1t is known that the sia.e is In pos
session of affidavits and other evidence of
a conclusive nature sufficiently strong to
break down the entire system of defense in
the Hamilton case, and that witnesses
stand ready to swear that the alibis used
In the cases against Lloyd and Hamilton
were fabrications, without a semblance to
truth, and part of a plan deliberately con-
cocted to defeat the ends of justice and
save the defendant from the penalty Of
murder.
In the Hamilton trial Feeney swore that
he spent tn night of April 25th at the
Knights of Labor hall, 1919 Sixth street,
in company with Hamilton. Jack Leary
swore that he spent the greater portion of
the night at the same place, and that Ham,
ilton was there. Jack Dolan who has since
been killed in an accident on the Wabash
road swore to the same state of affairs.
Jack Lloyd, who was tried at Paola, also
received the benefit of similar testimony
by the same men. Had il not been for this
testimony an alibi could not have been
proven, and Hamilton and Lloyd would
probably be under sentence to-day.
Among the persons who will take the
stand in proof of the perjury charge is
@. III. Whitney, who is now In Jail charged
with completely in the Elm park wreck.
Whitney made a confession about a month
ago In the presence OF Major b. l.. Wood
son, prosecuting attorney of jackson
county, in which he stated that Jack Dolan
kad been approached by persons represent,
ing the Knights of Labor and had agreed
the defendants in the Wyandotte
wreck had spent the night of April
25th at his house. By this means
it was intended to fix up an alibi for
Geers. Subsequently, il appears, it was
decided that Geers could be cleared with
out Dolan's assistance and he was again
waited upon aid requested to swear that
Mike Leary, another one of the defendants,
had stayed at his house on the eventful
night. With regard to the Elm park
wreck Whitney's confession was to the
effect that it had been ordered by Hamil-
ton and lad been caused by Bob Geers,
Charles Rabbit and Jack Dolan.
Witnesses will be produced who will
swear that Dolan, whose statement the de-
tense have in their possession and whose
testimony was used to prove an alibi, was
forced to accede to the wishes of Feeney
and others who wanted him to swear that
Leary stayed at his house through fear that
they would desert him In the trial for
wrecking the Elm park train. Witness
will show that Feeney, Hamilton and 9TH
ers held DOlan In their power through
their knowledge of his completely In that
affair and used him to suit their purpose
Whitney's statement made to Major
Woodson In the presence of witnesses was
substantially as follows:
81 was braking on the Chicago and AL
ton road when the strike occurred on the
Missouri Pacific in March, 1886. | was
acquainted wi John Dolan, Robert Geers,
Fred Newport and Mike Leary, and knew
Jack Lloyd by sig hit. They are the same
men now in Jail for wrecking a train at
Wyandotte' My wife and / were very
friendly with Mr.. and Mrs. Dolan. On
the night of April %, when the wreck &C.
Cured, Dolan and L went to the Dime
museum or theater, returning to his house
OF about ii o'clock, where / went for my
vile who was visiting Mrs. Dolan. l first
heard of the Wyandotte wreck the next
morning at the breakfast table. After
breakfast / saw Dolan and he told me he
had heard of the wreck and there was con-
siderable talk about proving who the par
ties were that caused it. Thomas Feeney,
Pink Harold, young man named Keys,
and others who knew by sight but not by
by name, wanted Jack Dolan and his wife
to swear that Geers stayed at his house on
the night of the wreck to swear that they
were all up town at the Coliseum that
night drunk and it was late when they re-
turned to Dolan's house and that Geers
would not 60 home and stayed at Dolan's
horseback Dolan agreed to swear it and he
I said be would try to Get bis wife To swear